Vending apparatus.



A. H. ARNOLD. VBNDING APPARATUS. .APPLIOATIQN FILED Mums, 1909.`

Patented Feb. 8, 1910.

2 games-SHEET z.

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tiraitaan"sritiris armer A jan'riiuan. niiivoiin, or CENTRAL,sourncenoiiiua.

' vnNDiNG APPARATUS.

To all uf'iom 'it Imay conccrni 'l Be it vknown that l, ARTHUR 'H ARNLD,a citizen of the United Statesyresiding at .Central, in the countyvo'fPiekensjan'd State of South Carolina, have inventedl new and-use fulImprovements inf Vending Apparatus, oit which the following is-aspecification.

lvending apparatus for vendingcigars, chewing gum and various otherkinds-ot goods` and articles. l

@ne object of the 'invention is to provide an 4apparatus of thischaracter having` a simple, reliable and eliicient type of article'holding and vending mechanism.

nother object is to provide a vending apparatus having means forsimultaneously Y discliarqingfan article from a single holder or artices from twoor inore.holders.' With these and other objectsin view theinvention consists ot the features-of conf struction, combination andarrangement; of

parts 'hereinafter fully describedr and claimed, reference being had totheaccony. panying drawings; in whichr- Figure' 1` is a vertical frontto rear 'sectionth'rough the apparatus on the plane in .dicated bytheline 1-1 'of Fig. 2. Fig. 2- Ais a vertical transverse section onthelplane tig. 3

indicated by the line 2-2of Fig. I; is a sectional plan view' of theapparatus. Figs. 4 and" `5 are detail sections on the lines 4 4' and -ofFig. 3. 'n is Referring to the drawings, h1 designates the inclosingcasing of the-apparatus, which as shownfisof rectangular form andInayin' practice be'constructed of any suitable material. .This casingis provided at the front thereof witha door or closure 2, which may i'be hinged or pivoted at one of its side edges tothe adjacent side ofthe casing, as shown at 3, and held closed at its opposite edge' by anydesired type of fastening means, not` This door may be opened tor. re'pleiiishing the vending and change-making devices when occasion requiresand for removing the deposited coins at desired intervals, and isprovided with a glass or other transparent panel 4 through which the'interior mechanism may be viewed from the exterior. The door is alsoprovided adjacent its lower edge with an outlet 5 for the discharge ofthe vended varticle and the-- change, it any, due the purchaser, saidouti let having associated therewith a. receiving and retaining tray 6and an overha-nging l 'Specication of Letters Patent. lnppiieation'aieii march ze, ieee. serial Naasaess.

rammed rei. a., iaio.

guard 7 to guide' the article or changjito the tray 'and prevent anunscrupulous person vfrom'attempting to manipulate-any of the internaldevices without the prior deposit of proper coin. I Arranged`transversely within the front portion of .the casin is a supporting`frame This invention relates tocoin-controlled,

comprising a pair o side pieces S and upper and lower cross lpieces 9,and which is pref ei'ably subdivided by a series of vertical partitions10'intoia number of spacesoi` compartments 11, 12 13, 14 and 15, thecompartment 11 occupying On'eside 'or half of prising an endless`tleirilole conveyor 16 mounted-'upon guide pulleys 17 journaled onaxles 18 iixed at their ends in one of the side pieces 8 and theadjacent partition 10. The

front stretch of this conveyer is arranged to move in parallel relationto and closely in rear ofthe panel 4 ot the door, and is constantly'of alength corresponding substantially to the height ofthe panel, whichte'rf initiates at its lower edge adjacent the outlet `5.y l The outersurface of the conveyer carries'a continuous series of brackets orshelves 19 arranged in spaced relation and so constructcd that thelbrackets or shelves upon the front 'stretch of the conveyer will oper`ate in conjunction with the panel 4 to provide a series of pockets tohold the articles '20.to be vended, which may be cigars," as shown, orany other desiredkiiid of lgoods `in suitable form.

The weight of the articles 20 on the front or working stretch of theconveyer serves to l operate the conveyer by gravity for the in-j' ftermittent feed of the articles to the outlet 5,`iind suitable means areprovided tor holding the conveyer against movement and per- 4mitting aprescribed degree of movement thereof for the discharge of a singlearticle at a time. The means for pertormingthis function .comprises abell crank deta-iningor locking lever 21 having an upwardly andrearwardly curved trip arm 22 and a lower, shorter detent arm or finger23, which normally engages one of the brackets on the rear stretch ofthe conveyer to hold the latter against movement. T heleve-r is mounted'at the angle of intersection of its arms upon` a rockl shalt 24 towhich it is iixed by a s et screw y25, `which shaft is journaled?" inthe upper'ends of `a pair of sup orting stand' -v ards.2 6 connected,by-'a cross' ar 2'?"l extending transvers'ely from side .to side of ther 28 to' 'engage to ,limiti the "downward 4i'nove'me'nt'v of' theExtending upwardly and i. rearwardly I at e an angle vfromjthe bar 29isabraclceta-rm .31

' upon which is pivotallymounted' areleasing .jor trip.: lever 32provided atits lower end 'z with a. pivoted ffnger 33 adapted 1to rest Vagainstla seat shoulder 34jl and provided at it'supperend withy anangularly bent coin receiving portion 35 having an opening 36 for therece tion of a prescribed size of coin, l y A tobenn erstoo'd that anyonesof the 'devices e Ishown is contemplated,exceptwhere its par.`tioular.. fined.

eral chan e-.maling devic'es'are-designated. by the re ercnce charactersy16, 16, 16and v 1651, and .each consists of an endless conveyerINormally't e portion 3 5'of the'jleveris ar` ranged, to 'close'ltheloweren'd of a' coinchute 5 37 incliningdownwardly and inwardly-fromy facoin inlet'38 at thefupperfrontportion ofV the machine'. rl `heopening 36 willfpermit of A'the -passage ,therethrough without'actuation of the. lever 32 of'a coinof smaller size 30 andldenominationy than .the one intended, fbut when the proper si'zefcoin'is/insertedandretainedjn said opening, the weight of the coin 'causessaid lever to tilt tothe dot` front arjml upwardly, causing'the-f'ngr 33to engage the arm 22, thereby tripping 'the' lever 21'to swing its armor detent 23 down?" vswingsbackward by gravity to normal-posi- '5 noms@that the datent 23 will. engage the l ,bracket followingvthat fromwhich'it wasl released and 'again lock the conveyer' from movement: Thetrip lever 32,1-afterthef r'e lease of the coin, which drops therefromby 520 gravity and rolls down an inclinedshelf 39 on to the frontportion of thebottomfof the casing, also swings back by gravity 'to nor`mal position, in which operation its gpivoted linger 33 tilts' up oncoming incontactwith 5.5 the arm .22 so as to passv easily lbeneath saidarm and then drops by gravity to normal' position, resetting theapparatus orfthej-:su'bsequent operation. v

` The cigars or other articles carried byathe 6.0 conveyer-l may bevendcd-at any .certain .pricesay at vecents each, in wl'nch eventitw-ill be understood that a ive cent piece shouldbe' inserted intotheslot 38 to eii'ecty the ,operation of the conveyer and discharge of'asingle cigar orarticle, in the. manner ted' line position 4shown' inFig. 1, rin` which" 35 Vits rear arm swings downwardlygkand its abovedescribed.; i' ltI is desirable inthe oper?.

ation ofl-a machine loff this hind' to also prof.

vdeja means' by which a' prospective -cusfA tomer not. having ya livecent piece on'hand 70 l 'may inserta coin fofA aI larger -Adenomination.'andjreceive a cigar'or article and. theproper amount of 'changel4 AI.provide af means by f whichseveralcoins of different' values greater.thana nickel .may be inserted, an article dis- 1 charged andthe properamount of change j-given.tothecustomer. e .e

devices arearranged .within theA Vseveral .spaces or' compartments Thechange i making 12, 1.3,'14 and 15,` 'and inthe-'main are 'simi- Y larin construction to the. goods vending de# 'son vice, and, as .theyarealike. in coiistlru'ctiontoy for all. Theyv are in eiect vendingdevices,

v.differing broadly from the vend'in'gdevice- 16K rmerely in .the- 4discharge of coi-ns insteadof oods, and hence in lthe use` of 'Athetermsvendm devices or any equivalent-1t 1s urp0se orj nature is specificallyde.; 4or purpose of`dist'inction, the-sevcorresponding in constructionto. the' conveyer 416;- and mounted'lin l1ke^-manner upon `4 the-LaXlesA j18, l each .of said change-making .each other,`a,descriptionof'bne-Will 4suiiice conveyers, which varyin width according to' tliewidths 'ofthecornpartmentsand the sizes v of the coins'tobeheld-thereby, being pro# vscribed denomination, say a ivercentpiece, while the pockets upon the'front stretch of conveyer ldeach-asingle yfifty cent piece, so thatjupon'the deposit ofna dime, quarter,half-dollar or'silver .dollar inthe machine, ashereinafter described, anarticle may be discharged with the proper amount of change devices.;

Each change making deviceor conveyer is held from-'movement by a lockinglever 40 `having a trip arm-41 and adetent 42 generally 'similar to' thelever 21said -lever 40 being however provided with` alug or eXtension'43.mounted upon a plvotpin or screw 44 carried by an extension 4 5Lfromthe bar 27 and pro-V .vided with`contact surfaces 46 and 47 to engage anarm :48' projecting from the bar, to'

limit its tilting movement. The detent 42 is -vided 'witha series ofbrackets 19a 'identical' inf-form to the brackets 119 ofy the conveyer16. The pocketsfformed byfthe ybrackets upon t-lie front stretch- 'ofthe conveyer 16a may each support a single. coin of a prevthe conveyer16b each carries two ten cent v pieces,l those of the 'conveyer 16. eacha. sin- -gle twenty-five ycentjpiece, and those ofl the provided toengage'the brackets on the rear *l lever S-similar tion to the `levercelving slot therein 1s of proper size toremaking device in question.

of 'the'coins inthe front pocketsl thereof.

The arm 18 is an equivalent of the arm 31 and lias'pivotally mountedthereon a strip 1n all respects in construe-i `32, except that the coinreceive the denomination o :t coin to be inserted for .the actuation ofthe particular ,change- The trip lingers upon the series of levers 49are designated 33a, 33h, 33c and33d respectively, Whilethe coinreceiving slotsin the portions 351`oi said. llevers are respectivelydesignated 36,

' 3612,36@ and 36d, each of which slotted porse'ries of coin insertionslots for'use in tions of the levers 1s arranged to communi- 'carte wlththe lower end ot a com chute 50 leading from a com insertion slot 51;The

con-

. -nec'tio'n with the article vending and changes making devices lareLarranged 1n alinement l'lwith'each other and bear in practice the nu- 25,

,nfgminations of coins to be inserted-therein.

{nierical designations .of the respective de- (t will 'be understoodthat the lever 46 is vnioi'inted 'independently of the shatfst and doesnot in operation ailect the same but merely releases the particularconveyer of the change-'making device associated there .with For thepurpose of simultaneously operating both such particular change-male.

Jing device and the vending device, an actu- Vating arm or lever 52 isprovided for cooperation with each lever 46 and its trip lever 49 and isxed to the shaft 24 by a L set screw 53, theA arrangement being suchthrough the outlet 5,

-conveyer 16c and 16C1 that When the lever 4:9 is tilted by a coin itsnger will simultaneously engage and trip Hence it will be posit a ten'cent piece in the correspondingly mark-ed insertion slot the vendingdevices 16 and 16a will be simultaneously operated to discharge acigarand a nickel inV change while if a twenty-tive cent piece should beinserted in the proper vslot .the vending devices 16 and 16a will besimultaneously operated to discharge a and two' ten centv the. .slot 5.

cigar pieces in change through If desired the pockets of the.

may respectively contain the proper amount of'change to be given -Whentheyv -are simultaneously actuated'in like manner with the conveye'r416, so that with the cigar forty-tive cents wouldv bei ejected by theconveyer 16c and'ninetylveV cents by the conve er 16d upon the respeciAtive deposits of a fty cent 'piece and a silver dollar in the coin slotsassociated therewith. But the. coins are preferably arranged in thepockets of the several change-makmg devices in the fdenominations:hereinbefore lever of the vending device 16C.

ydescribed and provision made for actuating with the vending de vice 16Cprovided with a laterally ezt- To this end the tending` arm 5l Vto'engage` the correspondi ing trip lever of the vending device'16", whilethe trip lever-associated with the vendingjdevice 16r1 is provided witha laterally extending arm 55 to engage the said trip The arrangement ofthese arms .is such that the trip lever of the vending device 16b may bcop erated independently 'of thetrip levers of the vending devices 16Cand 16'1, while the trip lever of thc vending' device 16c may beoperated independently of the trip lever of the vending'device 16, butnot without opera-ting the trip lever ot' the vending device 16l, whileon the other hand the trip device associated with 16d can not. beoperated Without depressing the trip levers of the'vending devices16band 16c therewith. Hence when a hali dollar is 'deposited in lthe properslot and operates the trip lever of the vending device 16, the tripleve-r of the vending devices 16 and 16b will be necessarily actuatedtherewith to discharge an article from Vthe vending device 16, two dimesfrom the vending device 16" and the vending device 16". When a silverdollar, on the other hand, is deposited in the proper slot the vendingdevice will be opfV erated to discharge a cigar, while the vende thevending devieeA a twenty-tive cent piece from,

ing devices 16h, 16C and 161 will be simul- A taneouslyoperatedtherewith to respectively discharge two dimes, a quarter and ahalfdollar, making the correct change.

From the foregoing description, taken in connection with the drawings,the mode oi use of my improved vending device will be readilyunderstood, and it will be seen that a device of this kind isprovidedwhich embodies substantial advantages in simplicity ofconstruction and vconvenience in use. @i course, the goods vendingdevice may loe employed alone, or in connection with. one or more of thechange-making devices,'and the latter may be employed independently otthe goods vending device, which variations are'held to'come Wit-hinthespirit and scope of the appended claims.

Having thus fully described the invention, what is claimed as new, is

1. A vendin apparatus comprising a cas-` ing, a seriesVoigautoIn-atically movable vending devices arranged therein, detentsfor, respective.. vending devices locking the against movement,`releasing means for the respective detente', and .means 'whereby-the vdetent, controlling `vv`any. particular vending vdevice may be operatedindependently of orl in conjunction'with one or moreof the conf tentsofthe other vending devices.

2. A vending apparatus embodyinfv a pluirality of automatically mov-ablevending' devices, means for independently holding the same frommovement, individual releasing devices for tlie respective holdingmeans,

' means for operating one of 'said releasing `e'ratiing one or moredevices, and means for simultaneously opl n of the other releasing'devices with he iirstamed releasing device;

' 3. ,A vending apparatus embodying an eiid- L less conveyer providedwith a continuous weightfof `tent to release the carrier a fies ` ablein one direction.

.holders and movable by series -of holders and movable under thearticles therein, a pivoted gravity retracted detent adapted to engagethe holdf ers' to prevent movement o saiduconveyer, v Vand a pivotedgravity "having a 4finger to engage andtrip said-dedeterniined -pe-k 4ietracted trip device riod, s aidinger being independently mov- 'LLAvending 'apparatus embodying anendless conveyer provided with aseries-,of gravity under the Weight of articles 'supported by theholders onone of the stretches thereof, a pivotally `mounted gravityretracted .detent adapted to engage the =-holders on the return stretchof the conveyer to prevent movement of the latter, and a .pivotedgravity movable trip device for moving said detent to coiiveyerreleasingposition.

5. A vending apparatus embodying avplurality of automatically movablevending dei vices, detents for holding the same trom the first namedreleasing device,

p, vices, and each of the.y last consisting' vof endless con'veyer`4provided tents 4coactingrvith yrespective vending tents, and. meanswhereby thedetent control# ling -any `particular vending device may beoperatedindependently of'or in conjunction with one crf'm'ore ofthede'tent-'s of the other `vendingV devices f y 7. A; vending apiaratus lembodyin a series ofl automatica ly .'movableliol ers, fa'shaft; til-"detent mountednnjsaid shaft and ,operative,t'o` hold. 'oneof the vending devices from movement,l detente mounted independfleasir.

o'usly actuate th trip, device associated with* sucli'detent.- V

' vices, a detent'for' locking one of said devices v from movement,ldetents .other vending'deviceagainst movement, the latter' na-medldetents being mounted independently of A.named detcnts,' said tripdevices. being v'condevices for retracting named detent, and

the trip device each of the other detents and certain of said devicesfor movement in unison.

In testimony whereof I aiiix my signature in presence of two Witnesses.

ARTHUR H. ARNOLD.

fitnesses F. B. cream-Jr.,

casing, the latter being provided with a com-' mon discharge outletiorVthe -yending de' an y with lholders, dethe yholders to lock the"devices against '-inovery ment,'releas in'g"means for therespectivedevice on thesh'aft associated With each of the 'i latter nameddetcntsa-releasingdevice for the first named detent, and a, releasingdei' vice 'foreach of .the other"detcnts,`

1 device being adaptedto simultanei-" "rality" of automatically movablefen ing denected for 'movement with the .irst nained-v detent, means forretracting the said first. :i

ently of 'said shaft forholding the other vending devicesl'frommovement, av trip de-` said4 reg@ 8. rA vending apparatus comprisinaiplui-i the first named detent, -a .trip device" associated with eachof Vthe latter associated therewith,- and means coupling i

